Joel b



(No Model.)

J. B. LOW.

WIRE ROPE RAILWAY.

No. 246,523; Patented Aug. 30,1881.

Wilnesses nvenlar UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI'CEe JOEL B. LOW, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ABRAHAM K. GRIM, OF SAME PLACE.

WIRE-ROPE RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,523, dated August 30, 1881.

7 Application filed December 16, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOEL B. LOW, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wire-Rope Railroads, of which the following is a specification.

My improvement relates to the manner of providing for guiding the wire rope around a curve or sharp angle, so as not to interfere with the free passage of the griping device past the guides; and it consists in one or more pairs of guides and compensating pulleys revolving on axles set upon the ends of certain swiveling bars which swivel upon fixed pivots .passing through their centers, which pulleys, by their combination with proper carrying pulleys and shoes upon the gripe, yield automatically as the griping device makes contact with them consecutively, while in pairs they firmly and unyieldingly support the rope at equidistant points in the curve.

There are two occasions upon which curves occur in railroads: first, when the line diverges ou the horizontal plane, as when the line passes through streets running at angles to each other; secondly, when the line diverges on the vertical plane, as when sudden changes of grade occur. The principle and effect of my device as I apply it on both these occasions are the same, though, of course, in .one case the pulleys are set to revolve horizontally and in the other vertically.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional plan of an underground ropeway in which four pairs of my swiveling pulleyguides are shown guiding the rope around a horizontal curve. Fig. 2 is a street plan of same road, showing removable covers, giving access to pulleys for purpose of oiling, 85c. 40 Fig. 3 shows sectional elevation of a ropeway with sharp change in grade, and one pair of my pulleys placed at intersection of the two grades, exemplifying a vertical curve. Figs.

' 4 and 5 are, respectively, front and end views ofa detached detail, showing how the beveledended shoe M is applied to both bottom and sides of a gripe to operate my pulleys, both on vertical and horizontal curves.

In all the figures like letters of reference re- 5o fer to like parts.

The better to appreciate the object of my device, I will first describe the present difficulties in rope-railroads.

Ordinarily the wire rope is placed below the ground in a tube or channel-way. This tube has a slot, through which the shank of the gripepasses upward and connects with thednmmy, which drags the car behind it. Now, when the jaws of the gripe pass along through the tube they must necessarily avoid contact with all rigidly set carrying wheels, or damage would occur; hence it has been the practice to place the carrying-wheels entirely below the plane through which the gripe-jaws move, and the depression-pulleys, so called, used at the intersection of varying grades, as in Fig. 3, entirely above the same plane, so that under no circumstances can Contact occur between gripe-jaws and pulleys. Of course, the depression-pulleys at intersection of an tip-grade with level ground cannot project above the road-bed, so the conditions imposed have heretotore necessitated these pulleys being made exceedingly small, their size being limited to less than the space between the top of gripe- 7 jaws and under side of covering-plate in roadbed. Seldomarethesepulleysoversixinchesin diameter. Now when itis immaterial whether the gripe-jaws strike the depression-pulleys or not, when these pulleys may encroach upon the path in which the gripe-jaws move, they being arranged to be gently pushed aside without shock as the gripe passes by, then they may be increased in size and great advantagein their operation accrue.

Again, some griping devices havejaws opening horizontally in such a manner as to allow the rope to be drawn upward entirely out of the griping-jaws when the strain on the rope has a direction angling upward from the line 0 of travel of the gripe. As, for instance, suppose the rope suddenly ascends a steep grade, and the dummy with gripe attached is still upon level ground, on such occasions the strain on the rope will tend to draw it'out from between thejaws if thesejaws open horizontally. Now, if these jaws be opened at such a place in the road the rope will fly out, and there will be no way to get it back again between the jaws, except the dummy with the attached gripe be backed on the road until that part of the rope is reached which is sufficiently sagged down to insert between thejaws again. Of course, this does not occur in some gripes, where one of the jaws is above the rope, always holding it from flying upward.

Again, where the old-style rigid depressionpulleys are used at intersecting grades, which pulleys must set above the line of travel of gripe-jaws, there has been found to be great \vear both of rope and upper jaw from running the rope through the jaws when the car temporarily stops at the point of intersection consequent upon the upward strain of the rope due to the angle the rope forms with the line of travel of the gripe. I avoid this trouble with my device, for I do not set the depression-pulleys above the line of travel of the gripe, but, if anything, a little below it, or at least low enough to keep the rope always traveling upon a line coincident with the line of travel of the gripe.

Again, heretofore, inturning horizontal curves, there has been no means of guiding the rope which did not necessitate its release from the gripe, and therefore the car had to be run around the curve by other power than that the rope furnished, and it the car should be stopped upon or near the curve it might not be easy to move it again without unloading it of its passengers. Now, with my device, I pass around such curves with perfect ease, retaining the rope in the gripe, and I may stop and go ahead at any part of the curve without difficulty.

In the accompanying drawings, A is the wire rope. B is the channel-way. U is the slot through which the shank of gripe D passes to connect with dummy E, which dummy drags the car F behind it. G G are my guide-pulleys. H is the swiveling bar, upon each end of which these pulleys are placed, revolving on pins I I. J is the pin or axle which carries the swiveling bar. K is the bracketpiece which carries the pin J. It is made fast to timbers set in road-bed or to the cover L, as the conditions of the case may require.

In Fig. 1 I show the last pair of pulleys in the setjust at the moment the gripe is passing.

It will be necessary toprovide upon all gripes operating on roads using my device a wedgeshaped guard, as at M, Figs. 1 and 3, or the jaws of the gripe, when used to push aside the pulleys, should have tapered ends, so that there will be no shock on striking. A bit of rubber or other elastic material may be used to receive the shock if it is found in practice to be needed. The arrangement of this mat Nearly all gripes are so constructed.

N N are the carrying-wheels which support the rope, which will, of course, be set a suitable distance from the first and last of the guidewheels G. The gripe has to pass over these carrying-wheels N, and ordinarily they may be set several feet away from the guide-wheels and below the path of the gripe; but in some cases it may be found necessary to bring these carriers N close to the guide-wheels and to allow them to enter the path of the gripe, so as to hold the rope at a proper height. \Vhen this is done it must be arranged that the gripe as it passes shall slightly depress them out of its path. I do not think, however, that any carriers, except the ordinary ones, are neces sary. Much will depend on the conditions under which the invention is applied.

It is an easy matter to select from the numerous styles of depression-pulleys. At present I have no choice, not having had occasion to use other than the ordinary rigid carrier, as in Fig. 8.

I may here mention that in a horizontal curve I can easily double the number of guide-put leys in the same space by placing one swivel ing bar over another, making the end pulleys of all the bars stand intermediate with the two pulleys of the opposing bar; but as I do not think this will be necessary I will not further elaborate my description of this, for any one conversant with the subject will easily understand the construction.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In rope railways, the sets of pulleys G G, (arran ged equidistant apart to bear against the side of a horizontal rope, so as to retain it approximately in a horizontal curved line, the said pulleys being revolved on vertical pins I I, projecting from swinging levers H, vibrated on stationary pins J,) in combination with the carrying-pulleys N, revolving vertically before and after the curve, and thebeveled-ended shoe M, attached to the gripe as a means of passing and supporting the rope around a curve while permitting the easy passage around said curve of any suitable griping device, substantially as described.

2. In rope railways, the set of two or any greater even number of guide-pulleys, G G, when set to revolve above the rope upon pins II, secured upon opposite ends of swinging bar H, in combination with the beveled shoe M upon gripe I), as a means of depressing the rope at a vertical angle or curve while permitting an easy passage of the griping device, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

JOEL B. LOW.

Witnesses:

AUGUST E. GANS, GEO. PARDY. 

